Rosa Bonheur, French, "Horse Fair" 1892
Women artists have lived in the shadow of male artists from time immemorial, in darkness, out of view. This is slowly changing. Women artists overtime are being discovered, studied, celebrated. That's why I can't get enough of the women artists I never heard of before. I'm in awe at the talent, skill, diversity, brilliance of their paintings and art. I hope one day to see them on the walls of the Toledo Museum of Art and, indeed, in art museums around the world. Here is a brief update on the continuing effort to recover the work of women artists from the past up to the pressent.
This past summer The Court Gallery in London had an exhibit of several 20th century women artists. I wish I could have gone, but the good news is that it is possible to see some of this art by clicking on this link. It's a feast for the eyes and the spirit in these tough times: https://www.courtgallery.com/exhibitions/86/works/?
There has also been renewed interest in women artists of the 19th century. This is the century of Picasso, Monet, Matisse, Renoir, and hundreds of other male artists whose art fills Museum walls. It's also the century when women artists, although talented, schooled, plentiful, bountiful, were so hidden they didn't exist for future generations. This is the century of women artists who are being discovered today, whose art was every bit as accomplished and brilliant as any of their famous male contemporaries. See https://www.thefamouspeople.com/19th-century-painters.php
Whenever our art museum, The Toledo Museum of Art, prints and exhibits art from its collections, and they are world famous, and mostly male giants from the 19th century, I can't help but think of female artists of the same era whose works are at last being brought out of the shadows and into the light. Here for example are some wonderful 19th-century women artists that could surely grace the walls of any art museum anywhere. Click on this link, and see for yourself. https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/women-artists-in-paris-1850-1900-clark-1329851
In the last few years, online sites devoted to recovering and publicizing women's art has made the task of discovery easier. I like to think that museums in our diverse world are researching the nature, extent and diversity of women's art from around the world overtime. They would do well to examine the efforts of Christa Zaat, the curator of Female Artists in History, for example. Zaat wants "to lift the veil of silence on our collective culture by sharing and celebrating female artists of the past." She focuses on artists from around the world whose work has been out of sight, out of mind. She especially wants to resurrect deceased woman artists, to give them a public arena to showcase their works. Zaat is illuminating their artwork through visibility on the Internet. She's doing great work in organizing and cataloguing the art to make it accessible. For a visual feast, join her site and check out https://www.facebook.com/female.artists.in.history/ and https://www.facebook.com/notes/female-artists-in-history/shortcut-to-the-indexes-of-female-artists-in-history/2286591328292410/.
I also love seeing daily posts from Rita M Sjorborn's Celebrating Women Artists in History at https://www.facebook.com/groups/864751373634163. Here are some examples of the artists that have been posted online that I want to remember.
 |
| Totems, Emily Carr, 1912 |
 |
| Paule Vezelay, Self-portrait, 1923 British, 1892-1984 |
"Born Marjorie Watson-Williams, Vézelay trained in London and, from 1920, spent much time in Paris. She settled there in 1926, when she adopted the name Paule Vézelay to obscure both her nationality and her gender. From 1930 she made abstract painting which became progressively simple in form. In 1934 she joined the international group Abstraction-Creation along with such artists as Jean (Hans) Arp, Jean Hélion, Alexander Calder, Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth. Wikipedia
 |
| Harriet Backer, Norwegian, b. 1845, Woman Sewing |
 |
| Zinaida Serebriakova, Khargiv, Ukraine, b.1884 |
Some recent articles with good information about what's happening today in the world of rediscovering and supporting women artists:
* https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/19th-century-women-artists-rosa-bonheur-elizabeth-bouguereau-virginie-demont-breton-female-triumphant. I love that Sothebys and other auction houses are finally beginning to sell the art of women and report that sales are brisk. That is a significant measure of change in the art world.
* https://nmwa.org/support/advocacy/get-facts/ Some interesting facts.
Some of my other blogs on women artists:
1. Visual Storytellers: Women Artists Document Women's Lives and Contributions,
2. More Women Artists for Art Museums' Permanent Collection: https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4676298606647372212/9211235889688948557
4. August Fells Savage: African American Sculptot, Painter, and Art Teacher,
5. A Coin with a Story: Selma Burke, African American Sculptor and Educator,
6. Inclusive Art: Women Artists are Finally gaining the Recognition they Deserve,
7. Out of the Shadows: Women Artists Discovered,
8. Walking Into a Painting: Rebecca Louise Laws' Art Installation of Flowers at Toledo Museum of Art (TMA),
9. Fired Up: Glass by Women Artists at TMA,
10.Unique Art Experiences: Yayoi Kusama's Fireflies on the Water and Anila Quayyum Agha's Between Light and Shadow, at TMA https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4676298606647372212/1621321898298507356
 Anila Quayyum Agha: Between Light and Shadow. The brightly lit triangles rotate slowly, slowly and shift the patterned shadows on the walls. Art installations encompass viewers in up close immersion in the art itself. It's a sensory experience. I'm reminded of Rebecca Louise Law's exhibit "Community," which was a blooming regalia of flowers and plants, garden flowers and Ohio wild flowers, leaf petals, cones and seeds strung in long garlands and magical strands from floor to ceiling. It was like walking into a beautiful painting.  |
| Immersed in Yayoi Kusama's Fireflies on the Water. |
Added artists:
